How to Get Rid of Voles?
Voles are the one of the most common pests found in your garden. These little creatures have a life span of about 12 months and they reproduce at a very high rate. They mate year long, do not hibernate and the gestation period is of 21 days. They produce 5-10 litters of around 5-6 babies in a year. These baby making machines can give you a headache and that is why if you want to get rid of them, read on.
Clear Habitat
Make your yard unwelcome to these unwanted guests. Remove all the brush piles as they are great shelter for the vole family. Do not use mulch in the vicinity of trees. All the low bushes, trash, and wood piles should be done away with.
Fencing
Get a few stakes and some rolls of .25” inch mesh. Start building a fence around your small heaven. Bury the fence about a foot under the ground as voles are very good at digging. The good thing is that they may be good diggers, but they are not climbers. So height of the fence can be adjusted as per your desire.
Fence the Trees
Voles can damage the trees severely by girdling. Girdling is the gnawing of the tree bark in a ring shaped fashion and this kills the trees. So the hardware cloth or mesh can be used to fence the trees. However, while fencing it should be kept in mind that the height should be well above the snow level. This, obviously, does not apply for people living in warmer regions.
Vole Traps
Vole Traps are really effective in getting rid of the little animals. You can use live traps also. The bait can be anything like peanut butter or apples. The latter one is more effective.
Vole Poison
The ultimate method is to kill the voles. Use vole poison during late winter. Look out for poisons like Warfarin, Zinc Phosphide etc.
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